


Dreamers Café

by spacemonkey



Category: U2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-08
Updated: 2015-12-08
Packaged: 2018-05-05 16:24:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5381969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacemonkey/pseuds/spacemonkey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Edge could think of a few words to describe their newest customer, but nice seemed like the safest way to go. Coffeeshop AU, no fixed era but I picture them all in their early 30's</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dreamers Café

**Author's Note:**

> Jana, this is your fault. So here's the obligatory U2 Coffeeshop AU fic! Every fandom needs one, or so I hear....I'm still working on all my other fics, don't worry.

He stepped off the bus and straight into a puddle, and Edge couldn’t find it in himself to be the least bit surprised. It made sense, really, given how his day had already been, and it had only just gone ten. He stepped out of the puddle and shook his foot out, smiling blandly at a woman passing by. She looked down at the ground and quickened her pace, and Edge felt like he understood her better than he understood himself. He was tempted to just turn around and hop back on the bus, travel the seventeen minutes back home, give or take a few depending on traffic, and climb back under the covers until he could find it in himself to start the day again. It was a terrible idea, an attractive idea, but the bus was down the road and it was starting to spit, and Edge pulled his jacket closer and started off down the road.

He was late. At least two minutes already, and he didn’t dare  check his watch to see if it was more, he just hunched his shoulders and kept on, sending a silent prayer skyward in the hopes that someone might hear him and wait until he was under cover before the heavens opened.

He stepped inside Dreamers, soaked to the bone and seconds away from denouncing any and every religion, and Adam straightened up behind the counter and raised an eyebrow. “I tried to ring you,” he said by way of greeting. The door shut loudly behind Edge and water dripped from his sleeve to the floor, and Edge shrugged.

“My alarm didn’t go off.” He shuffled forward as careful as he dared, his shoes squelching with each step, and he glanced around the empty café and sighed. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Adam offered him a rueful smile. “I was actually going to tell you to take the day.” Edge paused and looked at Adam, but he wasn’t exactly surprised to hear it. He’d had that phone call a few times in the last month, and each time he’d hung up feeling a little bit lost. “But you’re here now, so.”

“I’m here now,” Edge agreed. He leaned against the counter and rubbed at his face and held back a shiver. Water was dripping from his hair, down the back of his neck and onwards, and he thought it fitting that Adam had thought to name his café like he had, because right then Edge was dreaming of moving to a place with a warmer climate. “It’s raining, Adam.”

“It is?” Adam smirked. “Jesus, I never would have known.”

Edge rolled his eyes, but even with the sodden clothes and the barely an hour rush to get there and the lack of coffee and the goddamn date, even with it all he couldn’t help but feel the slightest bit better about the day as he made his way out back in search of a towel. It was just Adam’s way, even if things were going to shit, and Edge was sort of glad he’d missed the phone call. No matter how inviting his bed might be. “I’ll be out in a minute,” he called over his shoulder.

“Do hurry, I’m positively swamped out here,” Adam called back and Edge just shook his head.

He emerged five minutes later, slightly drier but not especially, and his shirt was clinging in such a way that Edge regretted choosing his white button up that morning, but he felt at least a bit more put together, and that was something he supposed. He wanted a coffee. Coffee and maybe a muffin, though he’d managed to grab an apple on the rush out the door. It was probably enough to get him through to lunch, but Edge felt like he deserved a little something more, and he hoped that Adam might agree.

He found Adam exactly where he’d left him, but now with two mugs of coffee in front of him; one black, one white, and Edge could have kissed him. He didn’t ask, just picked up the mug of black and took a generous sip, and it was strong and hot and enough to make Edge forget all his woes, if only for a moment. He closed his eyes and savoured it, like he’d seen actors do in terrible coffee adverts on television, and he felt sorry for those who went their days without caffeine. Sorry, and a little bit envious, and he took another sip and opened his eyes, and he kept the mug in his hands, a welcome warmth that he didn’t want to do without.

Adam was a world away, his palms flat on the counter as he stared over the display cabinet, and Edge drank his coffee and looked out the window, feeling a slight sense of satisfaction as he watched the passer-by’s hurry through the rain. At least it wasn’t just him. “Poor bastards,” he said.

“Hmm?” Adam was still somewhere else entirely, and Edge watched him for a moment before glancing over to whatever it was that was keeping his attention so. He frowned when he saw the man in the corner, a book in one hand and a mug in the other, and he looked back at Adam and found him still staring. Edge wasn’t entirely sure what was happening, though it was growing increasingly more surprising to see a customer appear in their shop. He glanced back at the man, trying to get a hold on the situation, but his dark hair was hiding most of his face and he looked as soaked through as Edge had been. Somehow the book was still bone dry.

“Adam?” he asked when the silence stretched on. “Everything alright?”

Adam turned to him then and smiled, and the look on his face was one that Edge had seen before. “Fine,” Adam said. He picked up his mug and drank from it, and he cast one last glance at the man before heading towards the office. Edge watched him go, and he couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face. He nearly followed Adam, as desperate for entertainment as he was, but he couldn’t help himself. He finished his coffee quick and went and set his mug in the sink, and he snatched up a damp cloth and headed out into the dining room. No matter how clean the tables were, they could always be cleaner, and he wiped them down one by one, and he straightened the sugar packets and rearranged the newspapers and the hairs on the back of his neck prickled.

Edge turned around in a way that he hoped wasn’t obvious, and the man raised his mug and smiled at him, seemingly unbothered by the fact that he himself was a sodden mess. “Morning,” he said, and Edge was momentarily at a loss. He shook it off quick and smiled back.

“Good morning, sir.”

“Sir?” The man quirked an eyebrow and chuckled. “I don’t think we’re there yet, perhaps you should buy me a drink first?”

Edge blinked. “Uh. Sorry?”

The man waved his hand in the air. “It’s alright. Did you get caught in the rain too?” His eyes dragged up and down Edge’s body and he smiled crookedly. “That’s a nice shirt you’re wearing.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome.” The man picked up his book and Edge supposed that was that. He couldn’t help but frown when he read the title of the book, and he was quite sure that Ham on Rye wasn’t actually about Ham or Rye at all. He nearly asked and thought better of it, and he smiled tightly though the man wasn’t looking and turned to head back to the counter. “I can see straight through it, you know.”

Edge turned back, and there was that smile again, though the man still had his nose in the book. “What?”

The man shrugged. He glanced up from the pages, and Edge had no idea what to make of him. He was of a few different emotions, and the temptation to just walk away was near overwhelming, but he knew that the conversation was likely going to be the most exciting thing that happened to him that day. Or possibly even the week. He stepped forward and the man watched him, his smile softening, and Edge found himself smiling back. “I don’t mean to offend you,” the man said. “I just thought you should know.”

“I’m not offended,” Edge said.

“Good.” The man looked Edge up and down again, quickly before his eyes settled on Edge’s face. “I like it in here.”

“I’ve not seen you in here before.”

“This is my first time. I was walking past and I saw the name, and it spoke to me,” he said. “Dreamers Café. I like it. Is it yours?”

Edge rubbed at his neck. He was feeling a little uncomfortable, in more ways than one, and the man just kept on looking at him. His eyes were blue, and Edge couldn’t help but keep noticing just how blue, and he knew that he wasn’t just meant to pull up a seat with a customer, but he felt odd just standing there. “No, I’ve only been here just under a year. Adam owns the place.” He gestured back towards the counter before remembering that Adam wasn’t there anymore, and he dropped his hand quickly back to his side and felt a little bit stupid.

“And what’s your name?”

“Edge.”

The man raised his eyebrows, and Edge was used to that sort of reaction, but he wasn’t quite used to the smile that he received. “Your parents must be wild.”

Edge found himself chuckling, and he shook his head. “No, it’s just a nickname. Don’t ask how-”

“No, I can see it. Edge.” The man smiled, and the way his gaze took in Edge’s face left Edge feeling a bit warm. “I’m Bono.”

It wasn’t exactly the name Edge had expected, it wasn’t really a name at all though Edge knew he wasn’t one to judge, but he let the name run through his mind as he looked at the man in front of him, and it worked for him. “Bono, huh?”

“My parents _were_ wild,” Bono said, and Edge laughed again. “No, also just a nickname. You should hear what my friends are called.”

“I can imagine.”

“You really can’t.” Bono ran a hand through his wet hair as he laughed, and it came out more of a mess than it had started with. He didn’t seem too bothered by it as he picked up his mug, and Edge watched him drink and felt a little bit jealous. He’d come out of the downpour looking like a drowned rat, and Bono had come out of the same and somehow made it work for him. He tapped his fingers against his thigh, and the urge to pull out a seat was growing stronger with each passing second. He very nearly did, but then Bono was glancing at his watch and frowning. “I’m late,” he said, and Edge deflated slightly.

“For what?” It was none of his business, and he regretted asking it straight away, but Bono just smiled.

“Nothing too important. And yet.” He raised his hands and pulled a face, and then he was standing up and gathering his things. “Is it still raining?”

Edge glanced out the window, and when he looked back Bono was watching him with a curious expression on his face. It struck him quickly, and he shook his head. “If you turn your head just so, you might be able to tell yourself.”

“I know. I just wanted to see what you’d do.” Bono gave him a toothy grin, and Edge just had to smile back. He shook the hand that was offered to him, and it lasted a beat too long. “I’ll be back, I think.”

“Okay,” Edge said. It seemed simple, like he should say something else, but it seemed enough for Bono. He nodded and then brushed past Edge, his shoes squeaking slightly on the floor and Edge found his voice just as Bono’s hand found the door handle. “Don’t get too wet.”

“I love the rain,” Bono said with a smile, and opened the door. Edge watched him leave, watched him through the windows and kept watching even after he’d disappeared from view, and he heard footsteps and found Adam ambling towards him.

“Oh, he’s gone,” Adam said, and the disappointment was evident.

“Yeah,” Edge said. “He seemed nice.” Nice seemed like the best word to use, though Edge could think of a few others that worked.

“Sure,” Adam agreed, and there was a beat. “He seemed let down by the lack of decorations.”

“Really.”

“Mmm.” Adam smiled. “He said he was tempted to go and buy a Christmas tree for us.”

Edge laughed. He wasn’t really surprised to hear it, and maybe nice wasn’t quite the right word. “Interesting guy.”

“Sure,” Adam said, and there was another bout of silence. “At the very least, perhaps we should get some Christmas tunes playing?”

“No,” Edge said. He’d heard enough of them already, had been hearing them in and out of stores since what felt like the middle of October, and they still had two weeks to go. Edge wasn’t sure he was strong enough for it, but from the look on Adam’s face he knew he wasn’t going to win. He nudged Adam in the ribs and shied away when Adam tried to reciprocate. “Fine.”

“I always win,” Adam said, and Edge couldn’t argue with him on that one. He waved him off and went to collect Bono’s near empty mug and he stopped when he noticed the umbrella. It was on the ground, unopened and black like the clothes Bono had been wearing, and Edge was sure that it belonged to him. He stared down at it until his face broke into a smile, and he shook his head and picked it up. He tucked the umbrella under his arm and went to put it somewhere safe, though he was certain that Bono really couldn't care less.

 


End file.
